The use of hand held hair dryers is common in beauty salons and in homes. The conventional dryer produces a flow of heated air that is directed onto the hair of a user for drying and styling. Improvements to hair dryers have also included heated ceramics to provide radiant heat and radiation to the hair of a user. Curling irons are also known for use as round styling appliances. A curling iron typically provides a curved heated surface and a tong for holding hair against the heated surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,205,674 describes a hair dryer in which the air passage includes a ceramic layer of mixed powder including both extreme infrared radiation material powder and poly-element minerals powder coating an interior wall of the cylinder designed to emit radiation into the air flow and out the air outlet.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,775,922 is another hair dryer in which one attachment is a nozzle for directing air flow axially. This nozzle includes a series of opening around the circumference and along the length of the nozzle to direct air in an axial direction, and further includes an end cap, preventing flow of air out the end of the nozzle as in a conventional hair dryer.